Apparatus and method for mining.



O.A.BRAY. APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MINING.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16. 1908. Pa iy 13 909 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W'itnes ses, @WM 7 ANDREW. B. mum" 00.. PHDTO-LITHOGRAPHiRl WASHINGTON,n. c.

M 0. A. BRAY. I

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MINING.

Patented Jul 13,1909. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16, 1908.

Witn eases 0. A. BRAY.

HOD FOR MINING.

ED JUNE Patented July 13, 1909. 4 sums-SHEET 3.

APPARATU APPLIG G.A.BRAY. APPARATUS AND'METHOD FOR MINING.

'APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 16. 1908.

Patented July 13, 1909.

ANDREW. a. mmuu c0" PNOTO-LIYHOGMPIQERS. wAsmMawN. n. c.

CHARLES A. BRAY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MINING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 1909.

Application filed. June 16 1908. Serial No. 438,770.

panying drawing.

My improvement relates particularly to apparatus and methods for miningcoal and similar material, the object of the invention being tofacilitate the delivery ofthe loosened coal or other material into carsor other means of transportation. 1 The invention s specially adapted tocoal workingswhere the seams of coal are so thin as tomalre shovelingdiflicult on account of lack of head-room.

My invention involves the use of traylforni receptacles or vehicles solocated preparat-ory to loading as to receive the coal when it is pickeddown or shot down.

The .work can bedone most advantageouslyf by under-cutting the coal andthen placing said receptacles orvehicles under and adjacent the undercut portion, and then picking .or shooting the undercut coal andallowing it to fall into the receptacles or vehicles. Then the vehiclesare drawn one after another to ordinary mine cars or to any other carsor vehicles or apparatus suited for the transportation"of the coal outof or away from the mine. The discharge from the tray-form receptaclesor vehicles is preferably accomplished automatically.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional plan of a mineroom in which my apparatus isinstalled, said figure being a' section onthe line 11 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2

isan upright section on the line 2- -2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a horizontalsection on the line 3 -3 01: Fig. 2,; Fig. 4 is an enlarged uprightsectionon the line t l of Fig. 1, a tray and. a car having been added;Fig. 5 is a detail plan of a modification of the apparatus illustratedin Figs. 1 and l; Fig. 6 is a section on the line (S -6 of Fig. 4t; Fig.7 is a sectional GlGVtLtlOll of one; of the cable guiding sheaves; Fig..8 is a sectional elevation of a drum for guiding. the cables and thetrays;

Fig. 9 illustrates one of the trays or tray form vehicles; Fig. 10illustrates another form of such a tray; Fig. 11 illustrates two suchtrays of still another form, the one brought into said entry.

overlapping the other; Fig. 12 is a section on the line 1212 of Fig. 11;Fig. 13 is a plan of the front portion of the two trays shown in Fig.11.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, A is a floor; B isa roof; and C is a facing in a coal mine, and coal is to be removed fromsuch facing. D is a pillar. E is an entry having greater head-room thanthe head-room afforded between the floor, A, and roof, B. F is a trackfor ordinary 111l116 cars, G, by which such cars are A branch track, H,extends into the opening opposite one end of the pillar D. Said branchtrack is depressed as shown in Figs. 4: and 6, so that the tops of thecars, when standing upon the extreme end of said branch track areapproximately atthe level of the floor, A. And above said branch track,the roof, B, is made higher than elsewhere over the floor, A, as shownin Fig. 4:. At each side of said branch track are upright, woodensupports or columns, 1,1, across the top of which is a horizontal framing, 2, and from each side of said framing a rail, 3, extends obliquelydownward to a lower column, 41:, standing at each side of said branchtrack. From said supports, 4-, two rails, 5, 5, extend toward the facingand rest upon the floor, A. Said rails, 3 and 5, form a track for thetrays, I, as will be hereinafter described. At each side of the rail, 5,is a guard rail, 6, which serves to prevent the tray from movingsidewise. In the left hand portion of the framing, 2, (the portiondirected toward the track, 35,) is mounted an idle guide pulley, 7, theaxis of which is horizontal and transverse to said track. On saidframing and rearward of the pulley, '7, and having its forward portionmeeting the plane of the pulley, 7 is a larger pulley or sheave, 8, seton an upright axle supported by its lower end upon said framing andhaving its upper end secured in a block, 9, which rests against theadjacent portion of the roof (see 1 and at). Back of said sheave are apair of drums, 10, which are geared and clutched to an electric motor,11, the axes of said drums being parallel to the branch track, H. Alittle way rearward of said drums is a sheave, 12. This rotates looselyupon an upright axle, the lower end. of which bears upon a block, 13,resting upon a block, 14, which bears aga nst the roof.

Rearward and to the right of the sheave, 12, is another sheave, 15,which is like the sheave, 12. This may be set in line with a line ofroof-supporting posts, 16, which line is approximately parallel to thefacing, C. At the front of said line of posts is a drum, 17, arranged onan upright axle, 18, which is held at its lower end by a block, 19,supported by the floor and which axle is held at its upper end by ablock, 20, bearing against the roof. A cable, 21, is attached by one endto the forward drum, l0, and extends thence over one side of thesheaves, 8 and 7, and the drum, 17. The end adjacent said drum isprovided with a hook, .22, adapted to engage the trays. Another cable,23, is attached to the rear drum, 10, and ex tends thence over one sideof the sheaves, 12 and 15, and thence forward parallel to the facing andtoward the drum, 17. The end of said cable adjacent the latter drum hasa hook, 24., adapted to engage the trays. Each of the two drums, 10, isadapted to pay out its cable while the other is winding its cable. Theshafts or axles on which the sheaves, 12 and 15, and the drum, 17,rotate may be made longitudinally extensible, in order to facilitatesecuring them in position by means of the floor and roof blocks. Such ashaft is illustrated in detail in Fig. 8. It consists of a lower,tubular, interiorly screwthreaded section, 25, and an upper section, 26,the lower portion of which is exteriorly screw-threaded and extendedinto the lower section, 25, and has transverse holes, 27, for theinsertion of a lever for rotating said shaft to screw the latter up ordown. A bushing, 28, may surround the lower section, 25, of the shaft.

Fig. 9 is a perspective of one of the trays, I. The form shown in thisfigure consists of a sheet metal body portion, 29, having an up-turnedfront portion, 30, and two low upright side pieces, 31, and a bail, 32,secured in cars, 33, which project forward from the side pieces, 31. Atthe middle of the rear edge is a tail piece, 34, having an aperture, 35.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a tray which has also a fiat bodyportion, 29, and a front up-turned portion, 30, and one fulllengthupright side piece, 31, and three transverse ribs, 36, which serve tostrengthen the body portion, 29, and to prevent the coal from slippingoff from the tray when the latter is pulled forward. At the side of thetray opposite the upright portion, 31, is a short upright portion, 31.And said tray also has a bail, 32, and ears, 33.

The two trays illustrated by Figs. 11, 12 and 13 are like thatillustrated by Fig. 10, excepting that the ribs, 36, are omitted.

The operation is as follows: The facing, C, is under-cut, by any desiredmeans or mechanism, as shown in Fig. 2. Then, be-

ginning preferably at the front, trays, I, are pushed backward into theunder-cut, the up turned front ends of the trays projecting, and thetrays preferably overlapping each other by their adjacent edges. Thusthe entire under-cut from one end of the facing to the other is filledwith these trays. The trays may be long enough to project forward awayfrom the facing any desired distance. The drawings show two rows oftrays, one row extending almost entirely into the under-cut and thesecond row standing in front of the first row, the trays of the secondrow having their rear edges projecting partially beneath the trays ofthe rear row. In shooting or picking, after the under-cut has been made,a considerable portion of the coal falls forward. Hence the trays,either the single row or the two rows, should extend far enough forwardto catch substantially all of the coal that is thus thrownforward. Thecoal is now shot down or picked down. Then the trays are drawn away oneafter another by means of the cable, 21, the forward tray of the righthand or outer row of trays being first taken. For

this purpose, the hook, 22, of the cable, 21,

is hooked into the bail of said forward tray. The forward drum, 10, isthen set into action, whereby the cable, 21, is wound upon said drum andthe tray is drawn toward the right and upon'the slanting track, 35, intothe inclined position shown in Fig. l, whereupon the coal in said trayslides rearward out of the latter and down into the car, G, locatedbeneath said inclined track. For the return of the tray, the hook, 24:,of the cable, 23, is engaged in the tail piece, 34:, at the rear of thetray and the action of the drums,

10, is reversed, whereby the cable, 23, is

made to draw the tray in the reverse direction. Butt-he tray may bereturned by any other means. If it is not too heavy, it may be returnedby the workmen. In such case, the tail piece, 34:, may be omitted. Andthe tray may also be returned by turning the tray around and hooking thecable, 23, to the bail. The drum, 17 serves as a guide for the trays aswell as for the cables.

In Fig. 5 the two drums, 10, 10, are mounted on the locomotive, J, whichis also used for moving the mine cars. It will be observed that withthis construction, the cables may be drawn by the rotation of said drumsor by the moving of the locomotive away from the room.

The trays may be madezof any desired material, and they may be made toslide on the floor of the mine or on low rollers. The

i and remain upon these trays.

site the long upright portion, 31, in order that said clear edge mayextend beneath the next tray.

It is to be observed that it is not contem' plated that all of themineral will fall upon n the contrary it is anticipated that somemineral will fall oil or over the trays. Butthis can readily behand-shoveled upon empty trays and hauled thereon to the main carryingline. 'Or a tray may be drawn over the floor with a fiat or clear edgeforward like a scraper wise.

to gather the loose mineral.

For discharging the load in the trays into the cars or other carryingapparatus, instead of running the trays up an inclined track, 35, thetrays may have hinged bottom sections whlch will fall downward whenthetray is on such track. Or the tray may be drawn parallel to the cars, ata suitable elevation above the latter, and there tilted side- Or araking or 'craping device may be let down upon the tray when the latteris drawn over the car, whereby the mineral is raked or scraped ofi fromthe tray and allowed to fall into the car.

The mine car track, F, and its branch.

track, II, it it have such a branch, and the equipment of cars may beregarded as a carrying line for carrying or transporting the mineraldelivered from the working room.

Such carrying line may be an inclined way or an endless belt or chainconveyer.

The trays might be drawn upon the cars by the cables and carried on thecars to a discharging place.

I I claim as my invention: Y

1. The herein described method of mining,j

which method consists in placing a plurality of tray-form receptaclesflatwise upon thefloor beside a face of mineral, then breaking down themineral into said receptacles, and then transporting said receptacleswith the mineral thereon and dumping the mineral therefrom,substantially described.

2. The herein described method of mining, which method consists inplacing a plurality I of tray-form receptacles flatwise upon the floorbesidea face of mineral, then breaking down the mineral into saidreceptacles, and

then transporting said receptacles with said mineral thereon to othertransportation apparatus and dumping said mineral into said apparatus,substantially as described.

3. The herein described method of mining, which method consists inunder-cutting the mineral along the floor, then placing receptacles intothe under-cut, then breaking the mineral down upon said receptacles, andthen transporting said receptacles with the min eral thereon and dumpingthe mineral therefrom, substantially as described.

4. The herein described method of mining, which method consists inunder-cutting the mineral, then placing receptacles into the under-cut,then breaking the mineral along the floor down 'upon said receptacles,and

then transporting said receptacles with said mineral thereon to othertransportation apparatus and dumping said mineral into said apparatus,substantially as described.

5. In a mining system, a carrying or transporting line adjacent themineral to be removed, trays adapted to be placed simultaneously at afaceot' solid mineral, and means for drawing said trays successively tosaid carrying line, substantially as described.

6. In a mining system, a carryingor transporting line adjacent themineral to be removed, trays adapted to be placed simultaneously at aface of solid mineral, and means for guiding and drawing said trayssucces sively to said carrying line, substantially as described.

7. In a mining system, a carrying or transporting line ad acent themineral to be removed, trays adapted to be placed simultaneously at aface of solid mineral, and means for drawing said trays successively toand discharging the mineral upon said carrying line, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a mining system, a carrying or transporting line ad acent themineral to be removed, trays having clear lateral edges adapted toextend beneath the lateral edges and means for drawing said trayssuccessively to and upon said tray track, substantially as described.

10. In a mining system, a carrying or transporting line, adjacent themineral to be removed, an inclined tray track extending above saidcarrying line, trays adapted to be placed simultaneously at the face ofsolid mineral, and means for drawing said trays successively to and uponsaid tray track, substantially as described.

11. In a mining system, a carrying or transporting line adjacent themineral to be removed, a tray track extending above said carrying line,trays adapted to be placed simultaneously at a face of solid mineral,and drum and cable mechanism for drawing said trays successively to andupon said tray track, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name, in presence of twowitnesses, this 8th day of June, in the year one thousand nine hundredand eight.

CHAR-LES A. Bear.

